Old English Life of St Mary of Egypt An Edition of the Old English Text with Modern English Parallel-Text Translation

by Magennis, Hugh

• ISBN13: 9780859896726
• ISBN10: 0859896722
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-01-01
• Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Summary

Mary of Egypt, a penitent prostitute and figure of female autonomy and authority, is a disconcerting and unconventional saint, especially in an Anglo-Saxon context. She is not the kind of model of idealized female virtue normally favoured by leading churchmen in Anglo-Saxon England, and yet her life occurs in the manuscript of AElfric's Lives of Saints, probably the most influential vernacular collection of saints' lives of its period. The story of Mary has been unduly neglected by students and teachers of Old English, but, with its gripping and intense narrative, it raises exciting issues in the study of medieval literature and culture, issues concerning gender, spirituality, cultural history and other current preoccupations. This edition makes the Old English Life conveniently and authoritatively available to today's readers. The text is presented in an uncluttered manner with facing-page modern English translation and is accompanied by a detailed introduction and concise commentary and a full glossary. A text and facing-page translation of the Latin source used by the Old English writer are also given.

Author Biography

Hugh Magennis is Professor of Old English Literature at Queen's University Belfast. He has published widely on Anglo-Saxon and related writings, and his books include The Anonymous Old English Legend of the Seven Sleepers (Durham, 1994) and (with Mary Clayton) The Old English Lives of St Margaret (Cambridge, 1994).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
List of Abbreviations	x
Introduction	1	(1)
The Legend of St Mary of Egypt	1	(9)
St Mary of Egypt in the Latin West	10	(4)
The Old English Version and its Manuscripts	14	(11)
The Old English Texts: Issues of Transmission and Relationship	25	(5)
Source	30	(5)
Language	35	(8)
Style and Register in the Old English Life	43	(8)
Select Bibliography	51	(4)
Text and Translation	55	(67)
Editorial Procedure	57	(1)
Old English Text	58	(1)
Translation	59	(63)
Commentary	122	(8)
Variant Readings	130	(9)
Appendix: Vita S. Mariae Egyptiacae	139	(71)
Latin Text	140	(1)
Translation	141	(69)
Glossary	210